Month: February 2017

Tiling With the correct adhesive

Tiling with a cement adhesive

When undertaking any wall and floor tiling work you should choose your products carefully as wrong adhesive selection will cause the job to fail.

Ready mixed adhesives.

These products are usually sold in a 10 Lt pot and is ready mixed for ease of use, however it is very limiting.
Generally it is only good for fixing small ceramic tiles under 12 inches wide or 300mm, anything bigger should be fixed with a 8 or 10mm trowel with a cement adhesive. Ready mixed adhesive should not be used for fixing floor tiles to the floor. A ready mixed adhesive should be grouted at least 24 hours after tile installation, the adhesive will take 4 days to fully cure.

Standard cement adhesive images-4

Standard cement adhesives are usually sold in 20kg bags and have a fast work time of 20 minutes and fully sets in 3 hours. This adhesive is used to fix large ceramic tiles on a wall or ceramic tiles on a concrete floor. A suitable acrylic primer diluted should be used prior to using cement adhesives.

Flexible cement adhesives

Flexi cement adhesives should always be used to fix porcelain and natural stone or any surfaces that may be subject to slight movement like a plywood overlay, they are sold in the same 20kg bag and have the same setting times as above. A flex cement adhesive will work on any tile installation on any surface as long as it is suitably prepared and primed.

Training Courses

If your looking to take on your own tiling work or even turning your DIY skills into a business, there are many tiling courses that offer fast track instruction.

One of the only dedicated tiling training centres in the UK is UK Pro Tiling Training, here you can learn all about background, preparation and fixing of tile in one course. Visit www.tiling-courses.co.uk to find out more